phosrpgportalfandomcom-20200214-history
DOW Mass Battles
This page document alterations made to the Mass Combat rule system. How Battle Rounds Work Planning Phase This phase takes place prior to any unit engagement or placement and lasts for a predetermined number of days. Any pre-battle planning or building would take place during this phase. The benefits of planning are established on an as-needed basis. Each planning attempt requires a full day of activity per player. Often the success of planning is determined by a trait or attribute roll. The planning phase occurs only once at the beginning of a Mass Battle. Initial Placement After the Planning Phase, both Defenders and Attackers will place their tokens and any chosen alignment. The two forces should have significant distance between them. Movement Phase The Movement Phase signifies the beginning of Battle Rounds and starts by giving the Defenders the opportunity to move first. The Defenders have the option to defer their movement turn and allow the Attackers to move first. In this phase, all tokens for all forces can be moved before any attack actions are taken. There is no designed movement during the Attack Phase. Player Action Phase Once all tokens have been positioned appropriately, the Player Action Phase begins. This is where players decide what actions their individual characters are going to perform in an attempted to influence the course of battle. The most common action is to fight, shoot, or use magic against the enemy. This standard action is covered in the rule book and the bonus applies only to that player's Knowledge of Battle roll. The results of other actions will be decided on an as-needed basis. Calculation Phase The calculation phase occurs only once before the attack phase. It is a culmination of all unit bonuses, outnumbered bonuses, and planning bonuses. It does not get recalculated during the Attack Phase, even if units have been lost since the initial calculation. This consideration assumes that all fighting across the entire battlefield is occurring simultaneously. Individual Player Bonuses are tacked on afterwards, as are any individualized planning bonuses. Attack Phase The Attack Phase is the final phase before the next Battle Round. Here, players take turns engaging against the enemy by rolling opposed Knowledge of Battle skill rolls. Bonuses from the Calculation Phase are applied to this roll and any Player Bonuses or individualized Planning Bonuses are added on top. For every success and raise against the opponent, a unit of the victor's choice may be removed from the board. The only limitation is that this unit must come from an opponent engaged by that player's force. When this round is completed, the next round begins with the Movement Phase. Unit Composition These are general guidelines for applying bonuses based on how different units are deployed. These guidelines are subjective and may be altered based upon the situation. *Every unit of Archers provides a +1 bonus when used to attack any unengaged melee unit at range (typically 2-4"). Exception: '''Cavalry, Heavy Infantry' **''Subtype: '''Sharp Shooters' provide a +2 bonus instead.'' *Every unit of Crossbowmen provides a +1 bonus when used to attack any unengaged melee unit at range (typically 2-3"). Exception: '''Cavalry' **''Special: '''Crossbowmen' provide a +2 bonus when used to attack unengaged Heavy Infantry at range (typically 2-3").'' *Every unit of Musketeers provides a +1 bonus when used to attack any unengaged melee unit at range (typically 2-4"). *Every unit of Calvary provides a +1 bonus when used against any non-cavalry unit. Exception: '''Pikemen, Musketeers' **''Subtype: '''Heavy Calvary' provides a +2 bonus instead against any non-cavalry unit and a +1 bonus against Cavalry'' *Every unit of Pikemen provides a +2 bonus when used against Cavalry. *Every unit of Infantry provides a +1 bonus when used against Archers or Pikemen. **''Subtype: Heavy Infantry provides a +2 bonus instead against Archers or Pikemen and a +1 bonus against Infantry.'' **''Subtype: Rabble provides no bonuses against any unit. *Every unit of Healers provides a +1 bonus when supporting any other unit type. Treat as Archers when attacked. **''Subtype: Clerics act as Archers when attacked at range and as Infantry when attacked by melee units.'' *Every unit of Mages provides a +1 bonus when used to attack any unengaged non-magic user unit at range. Treat as Archers when directly attacked. **''Subtype: Battlemages act as Archers when attacked at range and as Infantry when attacked by melee units.'' Unit Bonus Chart 1 Assumes enemy is at range and unengaged Morale Instead of checking morale after every unit loss, morale will be checked at more critical times. *When an army suffers the loss of 2 or more units from a single attack *When an army is outnumbered 2 to 1 *When an army has attacked nonstop for 8 rounds without reinforcement. Additional checks are made every round thereafter. Failing a morale check no longer causes an instant retreat. Instead, the army suffers a -2 penalty for every failed morale check. Failing a morale check with a roll of 1 or less still results in a rout. Larger Battles Some skirmishes are truly epic in scale and so some extra rules must be applied. Stack Size Ordinarily, unit chips cannot be stacked but when the scale increases, the board cannot always accommodate so many pieces. In these cases, a max chip stack will be determined prior to battle. Only similar units may be stacked. Greater Force Bonus The bonus applied for having the greater force can never exceed +9. Aftermath If it’s important to know how things stand after the fight, roll 1d6 for each token lost. *The victor recovers a lost token on a roll of 4-6. *The loser recovers a lost token on a roll of 5-6. *A routed army recovers tokens only on a roll of 6. All recovered units are considered willing and able to fight in any counter-strike. In addition: *A roll of a 1 indicates there were no survivors. *A roll of a 2 indicates the units were heavy casualties (roll % to determine death rate).